India Art Fair (IAF), previously known as India Art Summit, is an Indian contemporary art fair held in New Delhi. Since its inception in 2009, the fair has grown to become a global platform exhibiting paintings, sculptures, photography, mixed media, prints, drawings and video art of Indian and international markets. Recently, the sixth edition of the IAF was held from January 30 to February 2, 2014. This year the fair witnessed 91 exhibiting booths and 1000 artists from around the world comprising 50 per cent international and 50 per cent Indian galleries; buyers and collectors from 37 countries; a line up of 24 unique art projects; a wide range of curated walks; first edition of Mentor and Protégé Programme; museums showcasing at the fair; influential voices catering to varied audience of art enthusiasts at the Speakers’ Forum, and an extensive VIP programme across Delhi to provide a holistic cultural experience. The success of IAF has been witnessed in the exponential growth in visitor and participant portfolio over the years. “Over the last five years we have recorded over 400,000 visitors from over 60 countries. The rise in total number of galleries in attendance has been in excess of 300 per cent and of Indian galleries, by 200 per cent since inception. On the international front, gallery participation has seen an upswing of over 400 per cent, since 2008, with the major interest coming from the UK, Europe, UAE and the US,” states Neha Kirpal, founder and director, IAF.
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Neha Kirpal
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The level of international outreach for the sixth edition included participation from museums like Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, and also Himalayas Art Museum in Shanghai from where a major delegation of Chinese collectors lead by Philip Dodd (chairman, Made in China) attended the fair to enhance Indo-Chinese cultural exchange between collectors and museums, delegations from cultural institutions such as TATE in London and auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s. “The IAF 2014 marked the first private sector led Indo-Chinese cultural exchange programme with a visiting delegation of Chinese collectors, and gallery and museum owners. These dialogues will continue when an Indian delegation goes to Shanghai and Beijing later this year,” reveals Kirpal. This year IAF introduced 12 new galleries from cities including Paris, Lisbon, Cologne, Barcelona, Madrid, Istanbul, Tel Aviv and Karachi. “In terms of scale, IAF through extended collateral events, has helped create an annual citywide arts campaign benefiting the tourism, entertainment and hospitality industries. There is tremendous international breadth in terms of attracting international artists, galleries, buyers, collectors, auction house and all associated with the art world,” opines Kirpal.
The seventh edition of IAF to be held in 2015 will have renowned curator and art critic Girish Shahane joining the art fair organisers as artistic director. Shahane will direct a new Focus Curated Section for projects. Apart from roping in a celebrated personality onto this artistic platform, IAF is also reaching out to Tier II and Tier III cities for showcasing the artistic talent of these areas. “In an emerging art market in India the IAF needs to be uniquely customised. We endeavour to do this through outreach. IAF is fostering broader connections, appealing to Tier II and Tier III cities who don’t have the possibilities,” she reveals.
IAF has also reached out to 67 art colleges around the country for an art management programme. “This year we introduced the first edition of the Mentor and Protégé Programme in which we select a gifted young artist from India and connect him/her with an artistic master for a year of creative collaboration in a one-on-one mentoring relationship,” she states. However, government support is pivotal for the growth of such fairs on a national and international scale. “The government needs to build world class infrastructure and improve the custom and import duties to better support art fairs and internationalisation,” Kirpal argues. “Institutions are certainly gaining popularity and if the government’s level of support is able to match this level of enthusiasm, then it will change everything,” she adds.
(As told to Rituparna Chatterjee)
